Not sure how to optimize your Emergency Department's management of seasonal and pandemic novel H1N1 influenza cases this season? Should you test all patients with flu-like illness? Which test should you use? Which - if any - antiviral should you prescribe? EB Medicine announces its November 2009 issue of Emergency Medicine Practice, which presents the very latest evidence-based research and resources on influenza diagnosis and treatment.

EMP November 2009: "Influenza: Challenges in Diagnosis and Management in the ED"

After reading this EB Medicine article, I was able to ask key questions about our influenza preparations

Norcross, GA (PRWEB) November 25, 2009

EB Medicine, a national leader in highly respected, peer-reviewed, evidence-based CME journals for Emergency Medicine clinicians, has prepared a timely and important issue addressing the most comprehensive and up-to-date resources on influenza available anywhere. Written by a practicing emergency medicine physician, Dr. Charles Murphy of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and peer-reviewed by ED physicians, this issue of Emergency Medicine Practice brings together the most current literature on influenza, including recent studies on clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment.

Beginning with background on the influenza virus and its epidemiology, this article provides emergency department clinicians with evidence-based research on ED evaluation of patients presenting with flu-like illness and includes useful clinical pathway algorithms on testing and therapies that are based on explicit Class of Evidence definitions. In addition, this article includes 10 Risk Management Pitfalls for Influenza, along with Cost- and Time-Saving Strategies. With more than 80 references and links to external resources, this issue of Emergency Medicine Practice provides a comprehensive, unbiased resource for physicians and clinicians who are on the front lines of pandemic influenza management, diagnosis, and treatment. The article includes 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™, 4 ACEP Category 1 credits, 4 AAFP Prescribed credits, and 4 AOA Category 2B credits. In addition to the print publication, Emergency Medicine Practice is available online, and CME tests can also be completed online. To view the article abstract and additional information, visit https://www.ebmedicine.net/topics.php?paction=showTopic&topic_id=205.

A hospital Emergency Medicine physician in New York said, “I read this article as soon as it appeared online, which was the night before a large meeting of our staff leaders involved in emergency preparedness. Around the table were administrators, nurses, pharmacists, security, physicians, and other department heads all dealing with our hospital's preparations for the influenza pandemic. After reading this EB Medicine article, I was able to ask key questions about our preparations. For example, I did not know before reading the article that pharmacists are comfortable compounding Tamiflu tablets into elixir for children. That had already been a concern for us in the ED when faced with children at risk who needed the elixir. I also felt better prepared to understand the epidemiology of seasonal and H1N1 flu and the current diagnostic and treatment recommendations. I had a copy of the article with me and recommended it to the other department heads at the meeting because it was such an exceptional article. The information was trustworthy because the editors had already done the hard work of wading through all the literature and including the most relevant literature in the article. I have always benefitted from the tables and graphs that accompany EB Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Practice, and this article was full of useful tables that summarized the highlights of the article.” – Bruce Thompson, MD, Honeoye, NY (Used with permission.)